Hello all,

Well, my neighbor is at it again. He was talking to his boss about not having any transportation while he restores his 1969 GMC half ton pickup, and his boss told him he would sell him a 1995 S-10 4x4 for $600, (it only has 65,000 miles on it) which he can pay for by deducting $100 a month from his pay. So my neighbor is going to buy it, and when he is done fixing the half ton he says he will sell it to me.

This is the same neighbor who sold me the 1976 F-250 for $650. I have checked the autotrader for '95 S-10 4x4's and they sell for a lot more than $600. So, I am hoping to buy it from him for under a grand, and then turn around and sell it for a profit, then pick up a 1992 Ranger 4x4 with the 4.0 V6 in it. (See? there is a Ford story here!)

It is beginning to look like I might not get the '87 Ranger from my brother due to the distance (gas prices) and the fact that it will need a smog test, battery, registration, and insurance before I can bring it down. I figure it will cost about $500 for everything, and for an extra $100 or two, I can get the S-10 down here, and turn it over for a 4x4 Ranger with the engine I want, and be the year I want.

I know the 4.0 will not get the gas mileage of the 2.3, however it will still be double what I am getting from the F-250 so that alone would make it worth it to me, and the fact that it will be the style I like ('89-92) and be 4 wheel drive makes it even more enticing.

 

Sounds like you've got a plan. But, you're not actually gonna be seen driving that Chibbie are ya?

Ha ha ha, just kidding. Really, it sounds like a good deal. Good luck

 

Nighteyes, did you ever get your 3/4 ton smoged?

 

Olfordsnstone, I will not be seen driving the S10. I don't like that style, and I really don't want to spend the money on registration, and insurance if all I am going to do is sell it. I figure I will get a Non Op for it, and get the title transferred to me. Once it is in my name it will go up for sale.

WillyB, No, the '76 has not been smogged yet. My neighbor has gone down to the DMV and got yet another temp sticker. He says he will get it smogged when he comes back from his next run. That will be Tuesday night. However, I will have the truck with me until sometime Wednesday getting the camper (Hopefully anyway, Dan has just informed me of the camper jacks not working)

And it looks like I will be pushing back the Ranger until May now. I have found out that I will need to pay for a smog test on it before getting it registered up there and that was an expense I had not budgeted for.

 

Jim,

I've a set of homemade camper jacks...never used them on a camper, but have used them for other things (lifting beds/etc), you nad Dan are welcome to give'em a try.

 

Cool, might be easier to do that since you are on the way. Just waiting for a reply from Clint. Dan mentioned he had some jacks we could use.

 

Jim, I answered your email at 11:35 last night - if you have not received my reply we have a problem.

Also, you need to decide what sort of jacks you want as they are all different. It sounds like Mike and I have the two most used styles - those that are permanently mounted, one on each corner of the camper; and a try-pod pipe mast sort of thing that slips under the edge of the camper in the center. You can find examples of both on-line.

The type I have are permanently mounted and require several large (3/8s) bolts into the wooded structure of the camper. I would not drill these holes for just a one-time use. You will also need to check the camper to insure the wood you are bolting into is sound, and not broken up or full of dry rot. It is a couple of hour job to install these jacks.

The pipe mast sort are like bumper jacks - they are used only when lifting the camper and then stored elsewhere. When the camper is lifted high they get unstable and make a guy real nervous - lots of campers have been dropped from these jacks.

You drive the truck under the camper, and must be careful to have everything lined up before you start. While two such jacks are normal, we used to use three jacks just to keep things stable. We would put one on each side, more towards the front of the camper, and one at the back which would keep it from tipping. I never liked these sort of jacks.

You need to look on-line and decide which sort you want, and proceed from there.

 

Thanks for the info. Not having owned any type of camper in my life, this is all news to me. Looking at the jacks in the pictures of Dan's camper it looks like he has (had) three jacks mounted on the corners of the camper, two in front, and one in the back. However, he has informed me that the front two leak oil so bad they do not lift the camper, and the rear one is so rusted it does not move at all.

So, Mike do you still need some parts taken up to Dan's? If so, maybe we can meet by the 99 if possible, and I'll take them up along with the jacks. Or, if Dan still has access to the forklift, we can just use that. I don't know. Didn't know it was going to be so complicated to pick up a camper.

 

I use to have some of the jacks like Clint is talking about, that are not permanently affixed to the camper. Kind of like tripods with a screw jack that lifts an angle iron support. I don't remember throwing them away, but then again, I don't remember seeing them in the past several years. It's possible that they are burried in my garage. I'll look to see it they are still in there somewhere in the black hole.

 

Jim,

Yes, I have some stuff to send his way, also have the heater for you as well.

My jacks are like Tims I think...but are made with hand cranks and cable...almost look like those manual crane setups you see on the back of pickups

Dan,

I have the two hoods and the water tank, was there anything else?

 

Okay, it's official! I have met Jim and am able to verify that he actually does exist!

He pulled out about 11:30 PM. I wasn't able to get the jacks apart to replace the seals so we had to get creative. I put a floor jack under each leg of the front camper jacks and jacked, then blocked the camper with stacks of tires and wooden beams. Lifted it in the back with a 20-ton bottle jack and built it up the same way, alternating between lifting/blocking each end so that one end was always secure and stable. Had to get it almost three feet off the ground (Jim's truck is pretty tall in back!) and when it was high enough we supported the front on just the jacks while the rear was securely blocked and pulled the support structure out from under the front. Jim slid the truck in underneath just like he'd done it a hundred times and we set it down in its new nest. (Of course the whole process took about 3 hours!)

We secured it to the truck and after dinner hooked up the lights, then Jim set out for the long drive home. If he gets tired on the way, he's got a nice bed right behind him.

I almost hated to see the old girl go, she was cleaning up pretty nicely and will be shipshape again with a bit (or a lot!) of TLC. But she's gone to a good home and I have a bit more space in the driveway now, not to mention I can now start pulling parts off my '72 to swap onto the '68...then the remains of the '72 will have to go bye-bye.

So ends my chapter of the saga of the Car-Mel camper...


Mike: I don't recall anything more...unless you want to part with that old hulk of a Ford truck out in the barn that you'll probably never get around to doing anything with...

And I have 2 Cougar wheels and a shifter (if I can ever get over to Ukiah to dig the shifter out of storage!) so I guess we can exchange our junk (excuse me, stuff!) at Micke Grove...

 

I probably should sell it to you, make me an offer, you now what I paid for it.

PS, will send you an email shortly about the neighbors truck.

I didn't know Jim was heading up yesterday, could have met up with him and sent some things your way. Seems like you guys did okay getting it loaded, best part about it no one got hurt and you didn't break anything

Jim, if you'll be at Micke Grove, I'll bring up the heater.

 

Dan you forgot to tell them the best part. After we got the camper loaded up in the truck THEN we realised we had not put the tie down clamps in the bed.


So up came the camper, and Dan installed them. It took a lot longer than any of us had planned. I left late, about 10:14am, and actually made pretty good time until I got off the 5 Fwy and started climbing those winding hills.

The truck ran flawlessly and averaged 10.9 mpg on the fwy. My leg was bothering me real bad though, and I am now seriously considering getting some form of aftermarket cruise control set up for it.

Mike, I should have gotten your phone number so we could have met up. I did not check my e-mails yesterday morning, or I would have.

I didn't even think about it until I got to Ripon, and remembered you lived close by. However, since we left later than we wanted (my roommate went with me) and didn't have a way to contact you, I just figured we could meet up at Micke Grove and get the heater.

Dan also forgot to mention that he gave me a 17 inch flat screen monitor for my desktop computer to replace an old 15 inch one that was given to me in 2004. Works much better than that one, thanks again Dan! His mom is a great cook too, we enjoyed a wonderful meal there before finishing up the job of wiring the beast.

I was a little bit surprised that the truck did not sit lower than it did when the camper was installed. And, if I don't look in the mirrors, I can hardly tell it is even on the truck.

However, the gas gauge can tell. We left at about 11:30 last night, and it had a quarter of a tank, and by the time we got to Williams, it was hugging the big E. I put $20 worth in it (at a price gouging $3.25 a gallon!) and headed south on the 5 hoping to find a station cheaper so I could put enough in to get us home. Well, the truck gets about 8-9 mpg with the camper on, and driving the hills before getting to the 5 took its toll too.

As we arrived in Galt (south of Sacramento) the needle again was hugging the big E, and I pulled into a station only to find out it was closed until 4am. I pulled out and back on the freeway only to go a quarter mile and run out of gas.

We coasted up the offramp but could not quite make it to the street. Luckily, we were only about a quarter mile from a Chevron station which WAS open, and we got gas there. Went back to the truck put it in, primed the carb, and off we went, back to the Chevron to put another $60 in.

We got to within 80 miles of Fresno, and I just had to stop. (I had been awake over 24 hours at this point). So I pulled into the next rest area, and we both tried to sleep in the camper. Unfortunately we had not planned on doing that, and were ill prepared for for sleeping. No blankets, no pillows, no warm clothes. So after about 4 hours of that, we decided to continue on.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, and I was able to find a gas station selling gas for $3.03. And for some strange reason it was crowded! We arrived home about 12:15pm and proceeded to start applying some of that TLC Dan was speaking about. Took some pics of the truck with the camper on it. (Which have uploaded to gallery).

The truck ran fine. no overheating, no breakdowns, and I still feel it barely knows the camper is even on its back. However, after sitting for a spell, while we cleaned her up, I moved her to a different location on the complex (So I can see her out my bedroom window) and she started leaking coolant from the lower radiator hose. I tigtened the clamp, and she seems to be fine now.

All in all, a good trip, and test of the truck's abilities. I wish gas wasn't so high or I would do it more often (total spent on gas was $185!). Love that hill country up there, much better than down here in Fresno. Quiet and peaceful too.

BTW, Dan, you will never guess what I left at your place. It is green and white, and flat and says Ford on one side, and is all black on the other side. Last seen laying down on the job in your grass. (Tailgate!)

 

Oops, I think I know just the part you're talking about...might fit my '72, y'know!
Not to worry, I'll bring it to Micke Grove.

It sure sounds like you need to get rid of those 4.56 gears and add an overdrive. That sort of trip was just way more fun then I want to have...

Oh, and thanks for telling everybody about my screwup with the tiedowns. So much for reputation as being infallible...

Anyhoo, all's well that ends well, I suppose. Glad you made it home in one piece!

 

Don't mention it, glad to be of service

Yeah, the tailgate did not make the trip down with us for some reason. I reminded myself twice not to forget it, and Aspen even mentioned it, and yet we still forgot it.

The 4.56 gears definitely have to go. I stayed at or slightly above 50 mph all the way down, and it still didn't help with the mpg. I know the camper is to blame for the big decrease in mpg, but if I had 3.73's in there I am thinking it would have saved me a few bucks.

Still have not been to bed yet. I bet I sleep like a rock tonight!